


Going Home

by nanamousse



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Family Drama, Friendship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Lu Han-centric, MAMA Era
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-10-01
Updated: 2012-10-01
Packaged: 2021-02-27 08:55:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,626
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22184437
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nanamousse/pseuds/nanamousse
Summary: EXO-M was given a rare three-day holiday and Lu Han didn't know if there's a home waiting for him.
Kudos: 7





	Going Home

**Author's Note:**

> Written back in 2012 when EXO-M China Line (except Yifan) flew back to China for a short holiday. It was also during the time when there were a lot of theories about Lu Han's family because of popular knowledge that his parents didn't approve of him being an idol.
> 
> Disclaimer: This is purely fiction based on old fan theories.

"Are you sure you'll be fine?" Yixing asked as he stood by the doorframe of Yifan and Lu Han's room, "You can just come to Changsha with me. Mama would love to see you."

Lu Han flashed a smile to the younger boy, and said, "Thanks for the offer, Yixing, but I'll be fine. It's just three days. I'll survive."

Pouting for being rejected by his best friend, Yixing said, "They did tell us that we might not get this kind of vacation again, right?"

"Yeah," Lu Han answered as he arranged his clothes inside his new green MCM backpack. 

"Don't you want to use this to get yourself some good memories instead of depressing ones?" Yixing asked, hoping he would be able to convince the older boy this time. 

Lu Han stopped what he is doing, and said, "Yeah, that's why I'm going there. Who knows, right?"

* * *

Lu Han slowly opened his eyes as bright lights gave life to the room. Sitting up slightly, he squinted to the direction of his friend, who was putting on some white polo, and saw that he was somehow all-set and ready for work. Sleepy, Lu Han lied back down on the futon and pulled the blanket over his head to block the light. His friend chuckled at Lu Han's very childish antics. 

"High school has been long gone and you still act like a baby," he said, earning a muffled 'shut up' from Lu Han. Shaking his head, he said, "I need to go to work now, would you be okay?" 

Lu Han grunted in response. 

"I'll see you later then," his friend said even though he still has a lot of things to say to the other. However, he knows that Lu Han's terrible during mornings so he just decided to just text him. That way, Lu Han can thoroughly read and understand them when he is finally awake. "Bye," he said as he grabbed his things, switched off the lights, and left his studio-type apartment that Lu Han chose as his temporary home during his three-day stay in Beijing. 

Hearing the door close, Lu Han pulled off the blanket and stared at the ceiling. He is in Beijing. 

He has been since yesterday. 

He is in his hometown not because of anything work-related. 

He flew back to China for a short vacation just like Yixing and Zitao, who were already in Changsha and Qingdao respectively, since yesterday just like him. 

He slipped his hand under the pillow where his phone is to see if anyone left him a message while he was asleep. Unfortunately, his phone's screen just showed him his wallpaper, some app icons, and a huge '6:01am' above. 

'Maybe all of them are busy with their family,' he thought bitterly. He can imagine Zitao shopping with his mother, Yixing walking around the streets of Changsha with his grandparents to look for a good place to eat, Minseok helping his parents with household chores, and Jongdae treating his siblings to some food. Heck, even Yifan, who was not able to go home to Canada, is luckier than him - he knows Yifan's mother visited him in Seoul.

'Some kind of an idol you are, Lu Han,' he thought as he sighed, feeling pity towards himself, 'you can't even go back to your own house.'

* * *

'It's now or never,' Lu Han told himself as he got off the cab after paying his fare. He stared at the house before him. Nothing has changed, it is still the same. The only different thing is that he is no longer welcome in it. 

Stepping towards the front gates of his old home, Lu Han rang the doorbell to wait for his mother to come out. 'Just let me see her for a bit,' he prayed as he waited for the front door to open. However, no one came out of the house. Lu Han rang the doorbell repeatedly but there was still no answer. 

"Xiao Lu?" a woman's voice called his nickname from behind. Lu Han turned behind him and saw one of their old neighbors. 

"Mrs. Wang?" Lu Han called as he walked towards the middle-aged woman. "It's nice to see you again, Mrs. Wang."

"Oh my, it's you!" Mrs. Wang replied as she clapped her hands together in delight, "You didn't change much except for that hair of yours." 

Chuckling, Lu Han scratched the back of his head and turned back to the house. "Did Mama go somewhere?" he asked. 

Mrs. Wang sighed as she followed Lu Han's gaze. "Yes, she did, Xiao Lu," she told him. 

"Oh, do you know what time she'll get back?" he asked, looking back at Mrs. Wang.

"They...they moved out," Mrs. Wang told him and witnessed the broken look on Lu Han's face, "they're still here in Beijing, but they moved to another district." 

Stunned, Lu Han bit his lower lip to keep himself together, and asked, "When did they...moved?"

"Just a month ago," Mrs. Wang told him as she gazed at the young man before her with so much pity, "they're not selling the house though, your mother knows that you'll come back here..." she added, hoping that would make Lu Han feel better even if it would not, "just wait here, I'll get the keys."

"They left the keys?" Lu Han asked, surprised. 

Mrs. Wang nodded, and said, "Your mother may have been disappointed at you but she never stopped caring. She convinced your father to not sell the house for you. All your things are still inside. They also left all the furniture and appliances so you can stay in it anytime you want. Your mother's paying for the housekeeping, so everything's in order."

"I see..." Lu Han whispered, staring at the house once again, "I would love to have the keys then." 

The woman excused herself as she walked back to her house to get the keys for the Lu residence that Lu Han's mother entrusted her to keep. Meanwhile, Lu Han ran his palms on the surface of their front gate, and thought, 'Nice, Lu Han, you can now go back...but why would anyone want to go back to an empty house?'

* * *

Lu Han sat on the waiting area surrounded by fans with their cameras directed at him. He knew he looked stupid as he sat on a chair with a blank look on his face. His messy hair and the various fan gifts on his hands are not helping his case either. However, he did not bother to care. He just settled on giving a small smile at everyone so that he would not look like a snob. Still, if given a chance, he would just want to be left alone. 

To say that Lu Han was in an awful mood is an understatement. Ever since he stepped inside his house the day before, he wanted to tear everything down. He just chose not to as he stupidly thought of the effort the housekeepers poured into keeping the house as clean as possible. Instead, he left the house and wandered around Beijing. He poured out his anger into buying things he did not really need just to lessen the depression that was growing inside him. 

After his unplanned shopping spree, he went back to his friend's apartment and told him that he would be staying at his house for the night. He did not tell him what happened though as he was not ready to talk about it. That night, he sat on his old bed and cried himself to sleep in the dark. The next morning, Zitao greeted him with a text message, saying, _'See you in Seoul! ^_^'_ and a phone call from Yixing that he did not answer.

_'I'm sleeping, moron! -_-'_

_'Like I care? Haha. >:) Get your ass of your bed. You won't want to miss your flight because you're so not going to hear the end of it!'_

_'I hate you! >.<'_

_'Whatever. I'll wait for you at the airport, okay? :)'_

_'Not if I get there first! ;p Have a safe trip. ^^'_

Lu Han got up from his bed and took a shower. 'Why would I want to miss my flight? It's not like there's something worth staying here for...' he thought as the cold water ran down his skin.

The fans around him suddenly started going crazy out of nowhere, pulling Lu Han out of his reverie. He quickly directed his eyes to the direction of the new arrivals and saw his best friend walking towards him with his signature dimple on his face. 

Smiling a genuine smile for the first time after three days, Lu Han quickly gathered his fan gifts in his hands and stood up from his seat to meet Yixing halfway. 

"You did get here first," Yixing said, smiling. 

"I told you," Lu Han replied happily, "we should've made a bet on it." 

Yixing was about to make a witty comeback, but their manager appeared on their side and led them out of the airport. 

"Yixing," Lu Han called as they wait their turn to cross the driveway. 

"Hmm?" Yixing hummed in reply, knowing that Lu Han has something interesting in mind. 

"What do you think of playing with our youngest for a bit when he arrives?" Lu Han asked with mischief all over his eyes. 

Yixing grinned in return, and said, "I'd like that." 

As they reached their van, the two of them quickly put some of their stuff at the back of the vehicle before settling themselves at the backseat, locking the side door on purpose. 

"So, how was Beijing?" Yixing asked as they wait for Zitao, who was still on the plane up in the air. 

"Still the same," Lu Han answered, leaning comfortably on their seat.

"Anything interesting happened aside from you shopping for shoes by yourself?" Yixing asked again, making them both laugh. 

Giggling, Lu Han retorted, "Are you stalking my whereabouts through my fangirls online, Zhang Yixing?"

"Like I still need to do that?" Yixing replied, chuckling, "It's all over the Internet, Lu Han."

"Is that all?" Lu Han asked, making the younger boy confused, "Is that the only thing that the people saw?" 

Yixing pursed his lips together to think, and said, "Well, there's another one of you and your friend when you arrived there, aside from those, nothing else."

"Good," Lu Han replied as he smiled at Yixing. 

"Did anything happen?" Yixing asked, worried. 

The smile on Lu Han's face disappeared, making Yixing frown as well. Lu Han was still not sure if he wants to tell Yixing what happened, but he knows he cannot hide such things from him. "They're no longer there, Yixing," he began, shifting his gaze towards the front, "they moved to another district...if only I got more time, I would've looked for them but...I think that it's obvious that they don't want me appearing on their doorstep anytime soon." 

Sad, Yixing put his arm around Lu Han and pulled him closer. "Everything would be fine, Lu Han," he told the older – but fragile – boy in his arms, "you'll find them...maybe then, they've accepted that this is the path that you chose for yourself...they can't shut you out forever, you're still their son. I believe they still love you."

Lu Han gave a small smile, and said, "I guess I can hold onto that thought for now...they left the house to me...I went there yesterday and our old neighbor gave me the keys." 

Yixing watched Lu Han's hand slip inside the front pocket of his backpack to fish out a set of house keys and an old rubrics cube. "When I got inside, I went straight to my room and saw all of my things," Lu Han continued, "there's also a short letter from Mama on my desk. It was weighed down by this rubrics cube."

"What did she say?" Yixing asked as he stared at the rubrics cube on Lu Han's hand. 

"Nothing much...she just said that she remembered the time when they gave me this toy when I was still three or four," Lu Han said, smiling at the memory, "to me, this was the first gift anyone has given me...Papa taught me how to play it...Mama said I never stopped playing with it until I solved each side...which is why she knows that I'll do well as a singer because I always work hard..."

"Well, she's right," Yixing whispered, "this is good, right?"

"Yeah, I guess..." Lu Han answered as he pulled himself out of Yixing's hold, "but I don't need this, Yixing...I don't need this toy and that stupid house...I need them...but I don't know where they are..." 

At this point, a single tear trailed down Lu Han's cheek. Yixing was about to reach out to wipe it off when the back door of the van opened suddenly, startling the two of them. 

"What the hell, Tao!" Yixing exclaimed, clutching his chest. Lu Han started to laugh very hard at Yixing's reaction as he wiped his face away from Zitao's line of sight.

"It's not funny!" Yixing yelled at Lu Han as he slapped the older boy's shoulder. 

Zitao stared at the two boys who are supposed to be older than him and shook his head. "I thought going back home can bring back some of your sanity, I guess it doesn't work with you two," he said as he put his things along with Lu Han and Yixing's stuff. 

"I think I lost more of my remaining sanity when I went back to my so-called home," Lu Han said as he nursed his shoulder. 

"That's too bad," Zitao quipped as he slammed the back door of the vehicle. 

Lu Han and Yixing shared a look as Zitao walked to the side of the van. They watched as Zitao struggled with the door handle and laughed. 

When Zitao heard the roaring of laughter inside, he peered through the tinted window and saw that the door was locked. Sighing, Zitao thought, 'Why did I have to deal with these two?' 

Fortunately, their manager was walking towards their van. Lu Han quickly unlocked the door at the sight of him and slid it open for Zitao. "Hurry up, Taozi," he said, smiling widely in satisfaction, "let's not keep the lone dragon waiting." 

Rolling his eyes as the two older boys resumed their laughter, Zitao went inside the car and promised himself to tell Yifan about this stupid prank of theirs. 

"Everything ready?" their manager asked as he sat at the passenger's seat. 

Lu Han, Yixing and Zitao answered a chorus of yeses and their manager told the driver to start the vehicle. As they left the parking lot, Zitao pulled out his earphones and drowned himself in music to catch a few more minutes of sleep. 

On the other hand, Yixing leaned towards Lu Han's ear, and whispered, "We'll find them."

"What?" Lu Han asked, confused. 

"I said we'll find them," Yixing repeated, smiling encouragingly at the older boy, "I'll help you, I promise."

"Thank you," Lu Han replied as he smiled gratefully at the younger boy. 

"No problem," Yixing assured him, grabbing the other's hand to comfort him, "for now, let's go back to the home we both know - there's a lone dragon waiting for us there," he continued, earning a giggle at Lu Han, "and I'm pretty sure he misses his roommate already." 

Lu Han chuckled, and retorted, "I think he misses the panda more."

Yixing glanced at Zitao then back at Lu Han, and said, "Hmmm, I think you're right." 

Scowling, Lu Han heaved his backpack and whacked Yixing with it.

* * *

**END**

* * *


End file.
